


A Lonely Impulse of Delight

by ambiguously



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Fake Dating Turns to Real Dating, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, Undercover as a Couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-18 08:48:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21508381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambiguously/pseuds/ambiguously
Summary: Poe and Jacen go undercover at a new flight school rumored to have Imperial sympathies.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Jacen Syndulla
Comments: 6
Kudos: 24
Collections: Star Wars Rare Pairs Exchange 2019





	A Lonely Impulse of Delight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bright_Elen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bright_Elen/gifts).



Poe had just finished packing when the visitor alert chimed. His heart gave a hard thump as he raced through the hall to the front door before his dad could get there. Even as he pressed the panel to open the door, he heard his father's quick footsteps behind him.

"It's not your ride to the Academy. You're not supposed to leave for two more days."

"Maybe they're early." Sometimes, he'd heard, the Academy sent their rep a few days before the listed date on the acceptance letter.

The door slid open as their visitor was reaching to press the chime a second time. He pulled back his hand and placed a friendly smile on his face. "Sergeant Dameron. Sorry I didn't call ahead."

Poe's wild hope deflated. No, it wasn't going to be his transport to the NR Naval Academy, but he'd let himself believe for a moment that his new adventures would begin sooner rather than later. Dad had a visitor. He went to step aside when the newcomer said warmly, "Poe, good to see you again."

His eyes flickered back to the stranger. He was about Poe's age, maybe a couple of years older: human, pale complexion, black hair, and green eyes with a hint of blue. It took a moment to place the face in his memory before Poe lit up again. "You changed your hair."

Dad said, "Jacen, it's been ages. Come inside."

"Thanks." He came in, and Poe noticed he kept his posture rigid rather than the vague slouch Poe remembered from the last time they'd seen each other. Right. Jacen would already be in his second or third year at the Academy. The prospect returned: his old friend was his ride.

"Poe," Dad said, "why don't you bring us a pitcher of lassafruit nectar?"

"That's not necessary," said Jacen. "Thank you for the hospitality."

"Of course." He brought Jacen in to the living area, sitting him on the couch while Dad took his favorite chair. "How's your mother?"

"Doing well. I'll tell her you asked after her." He turned his head. "I actually came here to speak with Poe."

"I'm already packed," Poe blurted out. "I heard sometimes the Academy sends out their rep early." Dad gave him a look. Years later, Poe understood the look was for himself, anticipating the impending sorrow of watching his only child leave the nest. In the moment, he thought Dad was just being needlessly worried.

"I'm not here with the Academy. We've been in communication with them about the mission, of course."

"What mission?" asked Dad.

Jacen looked at Poe. "It's a long story. The gist of it is, the New Republic has gotten wind of Imperial sympathizers running their own flight school, and I've been asked to investigate. We'd like to send in two operatives to look around and report back. Your name was floated as a good candidate."

"Me?"

"You're at the right age to go off to school. A new recruit will get less scrutiny than someone who's already been to the Naval Academy. By all reports, you're a good student and a fantastic pilot, which means they'll want you." Poe beamed under the praise. "And," he said, glancing at Poe's father, "Poe is from a Rebellion family. We can trust him not to suddenly decide the Empire had a point."

Poe was mystified. "Who would think that?"

"You'd be surprised. The war's been over for long enough that some people forget why we fought it in the first place."

Poe looked at his father, but Dad only nodded along. He'd been watching the news holos a lot these days.

Jacen was asking him to spy on Imperial sympathizers, which sounded fun. But there was a problem. "I'm supposed to leave for the Academy in two days."

"I know. The Commandant agrees this is an important assignment. Your spot will be reserved, and if you do well, you'll start your career with a commendation. Not bad for a plebe." He gave Poe a quirked smile that made Poe feel suddenly hot and flushed.

"It sounds dangerous," said Dad. Funny, Poe thought, considering the scrapes both of his parents got into during the war.

"I don't think it will be. At worst, there may be more lax safety standards for pilot training than in other schools, which is why asking someone of Poe's skill level is critical. We're not committing high-level espionage. We're just there to take a look around and report back. And I've got his back if we do run into trouble." Jacen turned to Poe again. "I expect the two of you will want to talk this over. It's a big decision, and I won't push you into it. But just on the face of things, what do you think?"

Dad made a face that meant they'd be having a very long discussion after this, but Poe already knew what his decision was.

"I'm in."

* * *

The NR Academy had semi-private rooms, two or three cadets living together. Poe had already exchanged letters with his future roommate. Starblast Flight School was too small to afford such luxury. Cadets here slept in dormitories, thirty to a room. Another difference: all the cadets here were humans. Jacen wasn't, but he looked human, and he was using a false family name. His scandocs listed a religious affiliation that forbade droid-based medical treatment, which was the only care available here.

"We won't be here long," he told Poe with a confident smile. "And if they do find me out, there's my exit."

They met in the mess when they could. Both were first-years but so were a lot of other cadets, and they were divided up by age rather than ability. Catching time together was a matter of chance.

"Anything?" Jacen asked between bites of protein mush.

"My tactics instructor is big on human supremacy. He went on for twenty minutes about 'lesser species' this morning." He almost held back his words, then remembered Jacen wouldn't have come on the mission if it bothered him that much. Despite this, he added, "Sorry."

"It's why we're here." He took another bite, chewing thoughtfully. "I got a similar lecture by my flight instructor. Did you know no non-human has ever been an ace pilot?"

Poe bit down on his smile. That announcement would be news to Jacen's mother. "I hadn't heard."

"Keep your ears open. Right now, it's a couple of bad actors, not a pattern. Take to your teammates. Test the waters."

"What does that mean?"

Jacen played with his fork. "I told my bunkmates I wasn't accepted to the Academy because I didn't want to room with a Wookiee. Now they think I'm one of them, and I get to hear them tell all the bad jokes."

They were surrounded by others. Jacen kept his expression mild. Poe had to keep his still. "How bad?"

He got a shrug in return. "Nothing I haven't heard before." His face moved into a casual smile Poe recognized as both false and ending that part of the conversation. "Oh, you should know I told my squad commander that you and I are dating."

"You what?"

"It's a cover story for why we'll be spending time together." He reached out to take Poe's hand. "There's a social activity tomorrow night. We should go." Poe looked at their hands, and Jacen followed his eyes. "If you're uncomfortable with public displays of affection, let me know. I can add that as another religious prohibition to explain why we're not kissing."

"No," Poe said, hoping he didn't sound nervous. "It's a good idea. Glad you thought of it first."

* * *

Poe's class started flight training that afternoon. He'd been flying for years, and this was a secret mission rather than real flight school, and excitement still bubbled inside him as they lined up in the hangar for the initial lecture. The moment the droning ended, Poe went to the ship he was assigned, paying little attention to the voice in his helmet. He was too busy drinking in the sight of the control panel, shifting his weight to fit into the seat comfortably. Some of the trainer ships had a second seat for the flight instructor, but most were one-man cockpits, including Poe's.

Part of him was tempted to fire the engine and blow out of the hangar. He could be halfway around the grounds before the next ship even left the bay. Jacen's class had already been out.

He placed his hands on the controls. They weren't like anything he'd flown before.

"Cadets," said their teacher. "Do not engage your engines. Any cadet who fires his engine during this class period will be dismissed from the Academy immediately."

Right, thought Poe, and reluctantly he pulled his hands back. This was just their first lesson. They'd be flying soon enough.

"And no holosnaps."

He heard the muttering over the helmet radios from the other cadets. Poe hadn't even brought a cam in with him. Now he wished he'd remembered. Next time, he promised himself.

At least he had a date with a hot guy to look forward to.

* * *

The social activity was a holodrama in the common area. The cadets in Poe's squad arrived together then split out looking for good seats. Poe kept a lookout for Jacen. Spotting him in a crowd without the green hair was harder. He waved from the back row. Poe broke off from the other cadets and joined him.

"Hi."

"Saved you a seat." Jacen scooted over, making room.

"We're not going to be able to see from here."

"We're not staying long." Jacen took his hand.

The lights dimmed and the film began. Poe remembered hearing about this one a year ago, something bland and inoffensive, a little action, a little romance. Not a bad choice to watch with his make-believe boyfriend.

Jacen leaned over five minutes in, his mouth against Poe's ear. "I'm going to pretend to kiss you."

Poe almost told him not to pretend, then thought better of it. Jacen moved closer to him, blocking his view of the screen, breath warm against Poe's lips. Kissing him would be easy right now, even easier than faking. He held him instead, moving his face gently for the benefit of anyone watching.

After a while, Jacen pulled away, and took Poe's hand. He gestured with his head, and Poe followed him out of the darkened room. Poe went to say something but Jacen nodded, and he noticed another couple had taken up residence in a handy nook nearby. "Come on," he said to Poe. "I've got the perfect spot in mind."

When they were well out of earshot, Poe whispered, "We're going to get into trouble."

"A little. They'll think we snuck off to have sex like everyone else did."

Everyone else? "I only saw two people."

"Eight walked out so far."

He hadn't noticed. He'd been more concerned with the fake kissing. He'd liked the fake kissing. Real kissing would be better, but Jacen probably wasn't interested. He was relying on Poe as his partner in espionage, not flirting with him for real. Poe had to keep that in mind.

"In here." They'd come to the administrative office level. No one was around. Jacen handed Poe a small device about the size of his palm. "Holocams at both ends of the corridor. Get this within a meter and press the button. That should scramble the feed for the next half hour."

Poe looked at the device curiously. He hadn't known they'd been sent in with spy gear, too. He made his way around the corner, just out of sight of the first holocam, and deactivated it, watching the red light dim and fade. As he deactivated the second one, he noticed Jacen standing against one door with his hand flat against the lock, his eyes closed.

"What are you doing?"

He heard a small click. The door swung open. Jacen opened his eyes. "I'm good with locks," he said, and waved Poe inside before shutting the door behind them. They'd broken into the Headmaster's office, which was enough to get them expelled. This was only the second thing on Poe's mind at the moment.

"Since when have you been a Jedi?"

"Since never. Jedi are boring." Jacen moved to the terminal on the Headmaster's desk. He activated the power, then pulled out a miniature data spike from his pocket. Poe joined him at the terminal screen as he inserted the spike. "This is where the fun is. Want to change your grades while we're here?" Files cascaded open, transferring downloaded copies at lightspeed.

"Sure. Give me full marks on my last mechanics quiz."

Jacen snorted, scrolling through the files already copied. "New policy and politics class next semester. Let's look at the projected syllabus."

Breaking and entering to look at upcoming homework was not the most glamorous life a spy could be leading. On the other hand, the gleam of discovery on Jacen's face as he scanned the readout was the most excited Poe had ever seen him.

"Look," Jacen said. "More 'humans first' propaganda. And I know that book they're assigning. That's straight out of the Empire's approved school texts."

"It's not a lot to go on. Maybe they're supposed to read it and deconstruct the arguments."

"Maybe," said Jacen. Without any evidence of shame, he pulled up the Headmaster's private correspondence files.

Poe looked uneasily at the screen. "Are you sure about this?"

"We're here to find out what we can." He frowned, his face appearing faintly green in the glow of the terminal's light.

Poe leaned forward in curiosity, reading the same file. "What's a First Order?"

"I don't know." Jacen checked his spike, and read through more letters. "It's mentioned in several of these exchanges, whatever it is. And I don't know any of these admirals or captains, either."

"You know everybody in the Navy?"

"You'd be surprised. Mom trained a lot of them, and pissed off plenty more." The dataspike whirred and spun out of its dock. Jacen shoved it back into his pocket and closed down the terminal. "Less than I was hoping for. There's clearly something going on here. I wish we could find something definitive."

Poe's excitement at sneaking around dampened now that they were done and still hadn't found any solid evidence. "We can come back another time."

"Not a good plan. We're more likely to get caught, and we're less likely to find anything new." He patted his pocket. "This will have to do."

Poe wasn't willing to give up yet. He followed Jacen to the door. "There are other offices."

"Do you think we'll find something useful?"

"It's worth a look around while we're here. I'd hate to say our first date ended without a tag."

Jacen gave him an amused glance. "Does that word mean the same thing on Yavin 4 that it does on Hosnian Prime?"

Poe returned a completely innocent look to him, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning. 'Tagging' had become the go-to euphemism for sex among Poe's group of friends, and he'd wondered if the phrase was wider spread. "What do you mean? We want to tag our quarry, right?"

"I suppose." In a lower voice, he added, "They're not my type." Poe couldn't bite back his laugh any longer. They exited to the corridor. Poe watched as Jacen relocked the door from outside.

"How do you do that?"

"It's not hard. A lock is only a physical barrier blocking a door from opening. I move the barrier out of the way."

That didn't answer the question, but Poe guessed there wasn't an answer. Unless Poe suddenly woke up one day and could use the Force himself, he'd never understand. "You said Jedi are boring. I can't see it. Swinging around a lightsaber, saving the day. It sounds amazing."

"Yeah," said Jacen, making his way to the next office and examining the name plate. "You'd think it would involve a lot more lightsaber fights and rescuing people, and a lot less sitting around, reading old texts, and meditating on the nature of the Force. Boring."

"Spiritual homework?"

"Exactly. Besides, everybody knows Jedi aren't allowed to date. Romance is a lot more interesting than spiritual homework." He placed his hand against the door. The lock clicked open. "After you."

They went through two other offices before the time ran low on the scrambler. Poe lingered in the corridor, thinking. "We haven't checked the administrator's desk."

Jacen glanced at the holocams. "All right. We'll check." The administrator, like assistants all over the galaxy, had a low-status position which nevertheless came with a great deal of responsibility. His terminal sat at his desk in the outer cubicle. Jacen inserted the data spike. Ordinary documents spilled out, with class rosters, one on one training schedules, meetings, and much more.

Jacen leaned closer to the screen as meeting minutes went by. "That's interesting. I know that name."

"One of your admiral friends?"

"Nope. That's an ex-Imperial captain. And so's he." He gave Poe a pleased face. "Found our connection. Good call on checking the admin." He removed the spike and the screen went dark. "Time to go."

They hurried out of the staff corridor before the holocams came back online and headed back towards the common area. They could sneak back in to the movie and be there before the lights came up. Jacen took his hand as they walked. Just part of their cover, Poe thought, and sighed. "This was fun," he said.

"Told you."

"On the other hand, lightsabers might be fun, too."

"Not as much as you'd think." Jacen went to say something else, and froze. A moment later, he pulled Poe flat against the wall, his finger to his lips.

Poe heard it a few seconds later: footsteps coming their way. Instinct took over. He grabbed Jacen's neck and pulled him in for a kiss. What would have been a cool move, in Poe's opinion, was foiled by Jacen's finger still between them. He dropped his hand to Poe's shoulder, and his mouth parted against Poe's. Poe held him tight and kissed him hard. If he happened to press his body against Jacen closer than was strictly needed for the ruse, that served to sell their story better to any onlookers, or so he told himself. He had the same explanation for Jacen's free hand groping his ass, and for the soft moan in his own throat. Play the part, and enjoy it for what it was.

He heard a loud cough behind him. Poe dropped the kiss, catching the amusement in Jacen's eyes. They turned. It wasn't the Headmaster, but two of his assistants.

"Cadets," said Professor Tawler. "You are out of bounds."

"Yes, sir," Jacen said, sounding flustered and obsequious. "Sorry, sir. We wanted to be alone for a while. Won't happen again, sir."

Poe recognized a cue when he heard one. "Might happen again, sir," he said with some reproach sent Jacen's way. "Sorry, sir," he added.

The second assistant, Professor Erlen, barely covered his smile. "Get back to your dormitories, cadets. We won't mind if you take the long way to get there."

"Erlen," said his colleague with a warning tone. "That's not appropriate."

Erlen waved his hand. "You were young once, Tawler. We both were. Go on, boys."

Jacen grabbed Poe's hand again and they hurried away. When they were well away and almost back to the dormitories, Poe caught his eye and they both laughed. "This cover story gets better and better," Jacen said, and he squeezed Poe's hand. "Good improvising there."

"First thing I thought of." Now wasn't the time to admit he'd thought about it before. "So, data spike in your pocket?"

Jacen snorted. "You know it." Poe grinned back, and as they returned to the common room, he didn't mention he knew the data spike was in Jacen's shirt pocket rather than his pants.

* * *

Pretending to date meant excuses to spend meal times and free time together. It also meant getting an indulgent eye from Professor Erlen when Poe sat in on his lectures, which was in turns nice or embarrassing depending on the day.

"He's almost ready to ask when we're getting married," Poe groaned over lunch one day.

"Good. That means he buys it."

"I thought being a you-know-what meant not attracting attention."

"It can. It can also mean curating the attention you're getting, and being memorable for the wrong reasons. On my last mission, I was the life of the party."

Poe could picture that: Jacen back with his normal hair and a big, happy-go-lucky grin on his face as he spied behind the backs of his latest targets. Suddenly Poe's imagination added a cute guy beside him to act as his latest cover.

"You've done this a lot?"

"A few times. You'll get the hang of things if you decide this is a career path you want." He sounded analytical, almost disinterested. His expression changed, startling Poe with the transformation. "We should go out tonight. We'll go for a walk during our free break."

"Romantic or working?"

"Could be both. Bring your jacket and a condom just in case."

Poe snorted and grinned. "It's a date."

* * *

Poe brought his jacket. He dithered for a few minutes about the other request before grabbing one from the dispenser in the group 'fresher. Allied with the Empire or not, the health services at this flight school made sure the cadets were well-stocked. He noticed another cadet watch him stuff it into his pocket. Some spy, he thought.

"Have fun," floated the voice as he left the room.

Jacen was already waiting for him at the entrance to the dormitory building. The weather outside was pleasantly cool. This side of the planet would be heading into winter soon, but the air this evening was crisp rather than icy, and the high, bulbous trees that nodded overhead like bubblelamps still held onto their purple and turquois foliage with only a few stray blossoms fallen to the whispery gray grasses. It was a nice evening for a walk. Had they really been dating, it would have been perfect for a little snuggling for warmth somewhere out of sight of the main buildings.

As they ambled over the walking paths away from the dormitory, they chatted about their classes, and talk turned to flight training. "I didn't expect they'd be letting us train in real fighters," said Poe.

"They shouldn't. They ought to have training ships. You know how to handle one of these?"

"Sure," Poe said. "Piece of lassacake." He'd picked up the basics readily enough. "I can fly anything."

"Good attitude. Hopefully it'll keep you alive." He frowned again. "I know the frames are different, but the control panels are similar to some of the old TIE models."

Poe had never seen the inside of a TIE. "You think so?"

"Yeah. I climbed inside a couple of those over the years. Did you take a holosnap?"

Poe feigned innocence. "My what?"

"When your flight instructor was out of your ship, you took a picture of yourself smiling and giving a thumbs up, didn't you?"

"That is a harmful stereotype of young pilots. Not everyone does that."

"Pass it over."

Poe reluctantly handed over his personal cam from his pocket. "Fine."

Jacen displayed the image briefly. "It's a good picture of you." He pulled out his data spike and tapped the cam's side, downloading it. "I couldn't get a picture. This helps, thanks."

Right. The mission. Force forbid Poe forget they were working. They continued their walk, moving into a thicket deep with trees. The other cadets came out here sometimes, he realized, seeing discarded condom packets littering the ground. "How'd you know about this place?"

"There's always a place like this. I'll show you the one at the Academy. You'd like it." Like the rest of Jacen's half-flirty remarks, Poe didn't know if he should assume his friend was being friendly or his pretend boyfriend was being overly friendly.

Jacen looked around the spot until he found what he was looking for.

Poe leaned over. "A holocam?" He would never have seen it.

"The headmaster had footage on his terminal. Nothing like a little creepy surveillance of the makeout spot," Jacen said, making a face. "No sound, fortunately. Did you bring that condom?"

"Uh. Yes." He felt his cheeks grow hot again as he dug it out and placed it into Jacen's outstretched hand. To his astonishment, Jacen ripped open the packet, brought it to his lips, and inflated it like a balloon. Then he quickly pulled it over the holocam, leaving a weird, pale bulb over the end with the camera, like an obscene mimic of the trees over their heads.

"There. Now they can't watch."

Poe placed a hand to his own heart. "You've done an important public service for the next cadets coming here to make out."

"It'll break before then. Tell your squad, and I'll tell mine." Jacen tapped his chronometer three times. "All we have to do now is wait."

"For what?"

"Our contact is going to meet us here."

"Great. When?"

Jacen shrugged. "A while. If you're bored, we could make out. We're in the right place."

The flush hadn't faded, but irritation grew to take its place. "I hate it when you do that."

Contrition passed over Jacen's face. "Sorry. I thought you were okay with the flirting. I was wrong, and I'll stop. I never meant to make you uncomfortable."

On the one hand, Poe was glad he was sorry. On the other, he sounded like the recitation handouts from Poe's last school: word perfect but devoid of context.

"I'm not uncomfortable. It's fine. I just wish...." There was the blush trying to kill him again.

Jacen moved as though to put a hand on Poe's shoulder, and stopped himself. "You don't have to tell me."

"I wish you wouldn't act like you're into me when no one else is around to see."

Another expression crossed his features and was wiped to bland calm an instant later. "All right. I won't."

"Thanks."

"From now on, I'll pretend I'm not into you when we're alone." He turned away. "Our contact will be here soon."

"Right." Poe frowned. He couldn't have heard those words in the right order. "Say that again?"

Jacen folded his arms. "I said, our contact will be here soon."

"No, go back to the last part."

"Nothing to say. You're not interested. I got confused when you kissed me, but that's on me for not recognizing you were keeping our cover story. Let's just drop it."

The flush of anger had given way to a different warmth, this one gathering in his belly. "Did you ask me to go on this mission because you're into me?"

"No. The last time I saw you, you were already an ace pilot, but you were thirteen, and you were all hair and legs and acne."

The description stung, even if it was accurate. Thirteen had not been a kind age. "Thanks."

"When I went to Yavin, I had no idea you'd gotten cute."

The warmth grew. "You think I'm cute?"

"Drop it." His voice filled with a warning note. Poe realized Jacen thought he was making fun of him.

There were a couple of ways to play this. Poe chose the most direct one. He took a step closer, placed his hands on Jacen's shoulders, and kissed him again with the gentlest pressure of lips against his closed mouth. Jacen went to pull away, and instead his arms wrapped around Poe and he kissed him back.

Poe heard a noise, electronic, something that he could only think of as "Whomp whomp." Jacen surprise-laughed into Poe's mouth before turning around.

"Rude."

A droid had rolled into the clearing, some ancient model C1 incongruously painted the same bright blue and blinding white of the school's colors. Poe dismissed it as a lost service droid, and was confused as Jacen crouched down to meet its faceplate eye to eye while it muttered.

"No, you were rude," he told it. He got a long whistle in return.

Poe said, "You understand Binary?"

Jacen glanced back at him, and for a moment, he had the feeling Jacen and the droid were sharing an expression. Which was impossible, and weird, and Poe finally recognized the droid. "Wait, I know him. That's your mom's droid. Nice paint job."

"He's his own droid," Jacen said, pulling out his data spike and handing it over. The droid picked it out of his hand with pincers and stowed it safely away, beeping. "I agree the orange is better, but we all do what we have to when we go undercover." His hand rubbed his own dyed hair before resting on the top of the droid's chassis for a long moment.

There was an interrogatory set of beeps.

"It's all on there. Imperial sympathizers for sure, and contacts with the remnants. A few other weird things, too. Hopefully the team will be able to get more intel out of the records. We could only skim when we collected it."

The droid hooted again. Poe tried to pick out the meaning. "I didn't catch that."

"He says we should expect extraction orders very soon."

Poe was halfway through the words, "I've been studying for our exam tomorrow" before he could stop himself. "Sorry. Can we go back to the dorm first?"

"We're not leaving today. You should plan on flunking the exam tomorrow, though. See you later, buddy," he said to the droid, who muttered something before rolling away. To Poe's amusement, Jacen's cheeks turned pink.

"What did he say?"

"Nothing."

Poe cleared his throat as they started walking back toward the dormitory building hand in hand. "Do you want to talk about things?"

"Really, you don't want to know what Chop said."

"I don't mean that."

Jacen looked at him. "Oh. Do _you_ want to talk about it?"

Poe found that he didn't. Talking was in fact rock bottom on his agenda. What he'd like was to go back to their secluded spot and continue what they'd started, but the building was already in sight. "I guess there's not much to say. You're into me, and I am very into you. It doesn't have to get more complicated."

"Yeah," Jacen said, and he squeezed Poe's hand.

They paused in the corridor outside Poe's dormitory room. Poe tried to come up with something to keep the evening going a little longer, but everything he thought about saying was too dangerous to say here where anyone could overhear them. He settled for kissing him again, and this time, no one interrupted.

* * *

Poe flunked the test with as much aplomb as he could muster, intentionally choosing every wrong answer. The terminal spat back his grade at him, a whopping ten percent. He frowned, looking over the helpfully-provided answers, and saw he'd chosen the correct answers by mistake. Guess he hadn't studied as hard as he'd thought.

He met Jacen for lunch. "Bombed my exam. You?"

"My next exam isn't for another week. What'd you get?"

"I'll tell you after. Consider it a challenge."

There were about a million nice things about really dating instead of pretending to date. They didn't have to reach for conversational topics that weren't the mission. They not only had excuses to spend time together, but were both very keen on finding more. Poe no longer had to wonder how much of Jacen's open affection was an act, and he had no reason to hide away his own feelings. He could even smile back when Professor Erlen gave him an indulgent look during classes even as he tutted about Poe's attention being light years away and suggested he spend more time studying.

The only time he focused on school now was when he was having his flight lessons. His class was permitted to take their ships out the next day. Poe let out a breath as he escaped the docking bay doors, home at last behind the controls of a starship.

* * *

Jacen got five percent on his exam. Poe congratulated him with a kiss over dinner. "We should go back to that spot we found. To celebrate." He coughed. "They restocked the supplies in the 'fresher."

Jacen stared at him in confusion for a long moment before the credit dropped. "Have they now?"

"I might have a couple in my pocket right now."

"We should definitely go back to that spot." He glanced down at his chronometer. "But not tonight. I've scheduled extra lessons with my flight instructor an hour from now."

Extra lessons? They were on their way out the door. "Didn't you just tell me you flunked your exam?"

"Yes, and I told _him_ I was interested in hearing more about his 'humans first' thoughts."

"Jace." The concern in his own voice edged with desperation, and he got a grip on his worries before he continued. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"We're here to learn." His eyes sparkled with mischief. "Don't worry."

* * *

Telling someone not to worry was the least effective means of keeping them from worrying. Poe went back to his dorm room, sitting on his bunk with his data pad while the other cadets in the long room talked, or played games, or studied. They weren't allowed out of their rooms after a certain time without permission. Jacen had gotten permission for their impromptu date, and would have permission to be out this evening. Poe hadn't.

In a warmed-over TIE fighter. With a 'humans first' teacher who didn't know his student was half-Twi'lek. Jacen hadn't been caught out so far. It would be fine. If Poe snuck out now, he'd get into trouble, maybe even expelled after his poor grades this past week.

Put into perspective, the decision was easy.

He'd brought almost no personal possessions with him. The academy had provided them with uniforms. Poe had one holopicture of his dad, which he pulled from the magnetic frame and stowed in his jacket pocket.

"Where are you going?" asked Holsin, the cadet who slept in the bottom bunk of Poe's bed.

"Out for a walk. I want to clear my head."

"It's after hours."

"I'll be back before anyone notices I'm gone." He slipped out through the door by the refresher, ignored by the rest of his classmates.

During his daily routines, Poe had learned to pay attention to the locations of the security holocams. Jacen had never taken back his scrambler after lending it to Poe during their first date. Now he stayed out of sight as much as he could, and risked using the scrambler only when he couldn't find a way through a corridor without being seen. His heart thrummed in his chest like an engine, nerves sparking through him at every noise. This spying thing was almost as good as flying. Not quite, but almost.

He made his way to the hangar without getting caught. Jacen was nowhere to be seen, but one of the training ships was out. Poe felt a pang of jealousy. His own class had only been out in the air a couple of times. They wouldn't rate one on one flight time until next semester, by which time Poe hoped he was at the real Academy flying real ships and starting his real life with his real boyfriend.

He waited around in the hangar, feeling less and less certain about his plan as time passed. He'd pictured himself rushing in, and what? Saving Jacen from a flight lesson? He ought to go back to his dorm room. He ought to be studying and keeping his head down. This had been a bad idea.

The low rumble of an engine caught his attention. One of the training ships headed towards the opening on a smooth, easy landing approach. Poe stayed back until the pilot had brought it in and killed the engine.

"Not a bad landing," he said, approaching the ship as the hatch opened. "I could've done better."

Jacen gave him a grin before pulling off his helmet and climbing down. "What are you doing here?"

The flight instructor, climbing out of the aft seat, was less amused. "Cadet, you are out of bounds. Report to the administrator's office for disciplinary action immediately."

Poe ignored him. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," said Jacen. "Told you I would be. Why are you here?"

"I was worried."

"Cadet!" shouted the instructor. "I gave you an order! You will follow it now or I will personally see you are expelled."

"Sir," said Jacen, stepping between them. "Cadet Dameron was only concerned for my well-being. He didn't intend any harm."

"Cadet Antilles," said the instructor, "you will be silent unless you want disciplinary action as well. It would be a shame for a young man of your skills to hurt his chances at this school."

"It's fine. I'll go to the office," Poe said. Between disciplinary action and his grades, he'd be kicked out for sure. He saw the same understanding in Jacen's eyes.

Jacen sighed deeply, turned back to the flight instructor, and punched him.

* * *

They sat side by side on the transport. Outside, at the edge of the viewport, the planet dropped away slowly behind them. It grew smaller and smaller, then vanished in the blue spray of the hyperspace wash in their wake.

"That could have gone worse." said Poe.

"Could have gone better, too. I had him talking in the cockpit. If I'd gone out another time, I think he would have told me about what they're really doing." The rebuke was mild, and softened even more as Jacen took his hand and squeezed. "On the other hand, I suspect he was hitting on me and didn't really know what was going on. Creep."

Poe leaned against him. "We found out some things. That was the goal, right? Now we're done."

"Yeah. Back to the Academy."

Poe hadn't let himself think too much about the real Academy. His excitement, banked these last several weeks, bloomed inside him again. "You're sure they'll let me in now?"

"Don't worry. It was all arranged. Like I said, you'll probably start out with a commendation."

That was a nice thought, chased by a less happy one. "I'll also start out behind in all my classes."

"You're right. I suppose you'll need a tutor." He shut his eyes. "I'm having a vision."

"You said you're not a Jedi. You don't have visions."

"Shush," he said, eyes still closed, a grin playing on his lips. "It's a nice vision. I see long study sessions in your future with a devilishly handsome tutor who can't wait to get out there with you in the good training ships. It's time to fly, Poe." He opened his eyes, and his gaze was full of promise.

"Already soaring," Poe said, and he kissed him again.

**Author's Note:**

> More Poe/Jacen: [Flyboys](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17439818/chapters/41061578)


End file.
